Bmore street camera to cities

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Philadelphia mayor gets security-camera primer
O'Malley details benefits of video surveillance system as crime-fighting tool

By Brian Witte
The Associated Press
Originally published April 21, 2006

Philadelphia Mayor John Street received a tour of Baltimore's surveillance camera network today, saying he wanted to see how the crime-fighting tools worked in a neighborhood setting.

Street, who wants to bring a similar surveillance system to Philadelphia, met with Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley to discuss the city's camera network. Baltimore Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm also discussed how the cameras are used with Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson.

Philadelphia residents will be voting in a May referendum on the use of surveillance cameras as a crime deterrent.

"We expect that the ballot question will pass and when it does we will be ready to initiate pilot programs, and then I hope to use this technology in a very effective way to supplement our existing policing methods," Street said.

Street received a tour of a control center where video from the cameras are viewed. He also went to neighborhoods where they are used.

Philadelphia police have already used a security camera to charge Juan Covington with the on-camera slaying of hospital technician Patricia McDermott last year. In New York, the police department will use federal funds to install 505 surveillance cameras around the city.

O'Malley said he told Street the cameras have been very popular in crime-troubled neighborhoods, where residents want as much help as possible fighting crime.

"I told him that neighbors have reacted very strongly to the cameras and for all of the civil rights concerns that got a lot of attention early on, really the general public was most concerned about safety in open spaces on their streets and around their homes," O'Malley said.

Baltimore currently has 228 fixed cameras mounted in the city, said O'Malley spokeswoman Raquel Guillory. The city also uses 83 portable cameras. The cameras are used to monitor street activity 24 hours a day.

The city has paid for the cameras with a combination of local and federal money. In areas where police battle heavy drug crime, money forfeited from drug crimes is used, along with local money. The city used federal homeland security funds to help get the system started for monitoring infrastructure like public transportation and the city's port.

O'Malley and Street also discussed forming an agreement on how the cities would help each other in the event of a terrorist attack or natural disaster.

"We are 99 percent prepared to sign that agreement and we look forward in the very, very near future to meeting at a common location and signing those agreements," Street said.

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Camera catches homicide suspect
Police use video to identify teen in killing of man asleep on bench in West Baltimore
By Gus G. Sentementes
Originally published November 22, 2006

A shadowy figure walked up to Joel Bradley as he slept on a bench in West Baltimore and, with a 3-foot-long tree branch, bashed him over the head, cracking his skull, according to police.

The 39-year-old Bradley rolled off the bench and fell on the ground. The assailant rifled through his pockets and then left him for dead, police said. Minutes later, police arrived and found the man shortly after 3 a.m. Oct. 22.

Yesterday, police said good detective work - and the resourceful use of technology - helped catch the suspected killer in the apparently random street attack, which was caught on video by one of the city Police Department's surveillance cameras at Calhoun and Cumberland streets.

The department has rolled out more than 300 surveillance cameras, positioned mainly in the city's high-crime areas. Police have claimed some success in using the cameras, calling the program another investigative tool.

Though the suspect's face could not be discerned on video, detectives discovered that he had stolen the victim's cell phone, police said.

A review of the cell phone's call records led the detectives to the suspect's sister, according to Maj. Fred Taber Jr., the homicide division commander. The detectives showed the video footage to the sister, who told them she thought the attacker "fit the description" of her brother, after recognizing the jacket he wore, Taber said.

Family members told the detectives that the suspect, identified as Donavan T. White, had recently moved to Edenton, North Carolina. The detectives flew down to find him and interview him, Taber said. He said White had lived in a group home in Baltimore.

"It was a good case relative to the cameras and the technology that we were able to use," Taber said.

White was arrested on a first-degree murder warrant and faces extradition to Baltimore, Taber said. The detectives, Robert Dohony and Anthony Fata, were flying back to Baltimore yesterday, he said.

Relatives of Bradley, who lived in the 3900 block of Colborne Road in Southwest Baltimore, could not be reached yesterday for comment.

[Qdawg]

[quote="Qdawg"]Camera catches homicide suspect
Police use video to identify teen in killing of man asleep on bench in West Baltimore
By Gus G. Sentementes
Originally published November 22, 2006

A shadowy figure walked up to Joel Bradley as he slept on a bench in West Baltimore and, with a 3-foot-long tree branch, bashed him over the head, cracking his skull, according to police.

The 39-year-old Bradley rolled off the bench and fell on the ground. The assailant rifled through his pockets and then left him for dead, police said. Minutes later, police arrived and found the man shortly after 3 a.m. Oct. 22.

Yesterday, police said good detective work - and the resourceful use of technology - helped catch the suspected killer in the apparently random street attack, which was caught on video by one of the city Police Department's surveillance cameras at Calhoun and Cumberland streets.

The department has rolled out more than 300 surveillance cameras, positioned mainly in the city's high-crime areas. Police have claimed some success in using the cameras, calling the program another investigative tool.

Though the suspect's face could not be discerned on video, detectives discovered that he had stolen the victim's cell phone, police said.

A review of the cell phone's call records led the detectives to the suspect's sister, according to Maj. Fred Taber Jr., the homicide division commander. The detectives showed the video footage to the sister, who told them she thought the attacker "fit the description" of her brother, after recognizing the jacket he wore, Taber said.

Family members told the detectives that the suspect, identified as Donavan T. White, had recently moved to Edenton, North Carolina. The detectives flew down to find him and interview him, Taber said. He said White had lived in a group home in Baltimore.

"It was a good case relative to the cameras and the technology that we were able to use," Taber said.

White was arrested on a first-degree murder warrant and faces extradition to Baltimore, Taber said. The detectives, Robert Dohony and Anthony Fata, were flying back to Baltimore yesterday, he said.

Relatives of Bradley, who lived in the 3900 block of Colborne Road in Southwest Baltimore, could not be reached yesterday for comment.[/quote]

Extradition // Donavan Troy White, 17, who was arrested in North Carolina about three weeks ago on a Baltimore warrant charging him as an adult with first-degree murder, was returned in police custody Wednesday after waiving an extradition hearing. White, who had no fixed address, is accused of fatally beating 39-year-old Joel Bradley with a 3-foot-long tree branch and stealing the man's cell phone. The attack - which occurred as Bradley slept on a bench in the 700 block of Cumberland St. on Oct. 22 - was caught on a police surveillance camera, and a review of calls made on the cell phone after Bradley's death led to White's arrest.